1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air cooling device mounted on the hardhat and a hardhat incorporating said air cooling device, and more particularly to a removable hardhat mounted personal fan which includes a fan and duct delivery system installed along the rim of the hardhat to provide cooling airflow to a user's lower face, neck, shoulders and upper body. The present invention also relates to a hardhat incorporating said personal fan.
2. Description of Related Art
Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H) has historically been regarded as a high priority by companies concerning their workers in the United States and abroad. This invention has been developed to enhance worker comfort, create a healthier working environment and increase safety. A few ideas have been advanced to implement cooling apparatuses located inside a hardhat or that require some modification to a hardhat.
More specifically, by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,773 to Katz discloses a ventilated hardhat having an interior cavity and a plurality of vent holes therethrough. A fan is mounted to the hardhat in the interior cavity. A motor is also mounted to the hardhat in the interior cavity for rotating the fan to draw air through the vent holes into the interior cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,760,925 to Maxwell discloses an air-conditioned hardhats which includes a motor and fan attached to the top of the interior of a hardhat to blow air over a coolant reservoir onto the wearer's head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,106 to Wang discloses an engineering safety cap for providing both security and ventilation. The cap includes a cylindrical cover having a motor driven fan mounted therein and is pivotably mounted at one edge thereof to the cap such that the cover can be positioned inside the cap opening.
The installation of those devices is cumbersome and unappealing. The installation of those devices may be permanent, and when there is no need or desire for using those devices which could be troublesome. Moreover, those devices focus primarily on cooling the top of the head, forehead and face. Although the head releases much heat, other parts of the body absorb most of the heat. Previous designs largely omit cooling to these other parts of the body and thus the air is not being efficiently used. Furthermore, the air may cause discomfort to wear's eyes if the air is blown directly to the head and forehead. Therefore, there exist needs to have a hardhat mounted personal fan that can provide cooling air to other parts of the body. Moreover the hardhat mounted personal fan should be easy to install, use and un-install.